Trump’s resurgence is impervious to the courts, as is Netenyahu’s war in Gaza; far-right populists from Milei in Argentina to Orban and Meloni are ensconced, while Le Pen and Farage permeate and poison the political qi.
But if you seek hope, see here in Germany. As our own correspondent wrote, these pictures are the few she could take amid the throng of protesters against the far-right. “We went to a demo in Bremen where we had to walk 5 km into town because all the trams and buses were rammed,” Christina Müller-Stewart told me. “People walked from all directions into the city, tailbacks going back several km.”
Millions attended protests like these over the weekend across the country against the resurging far-right, as embodied in the Alternativ für Deutschland party. It helped galvanise a turnout of 69% in Sunday’s election in Saarle-Orla, Thuringia, that stunningly stymied the AfD’s long-projected victory, losing 47.7% to the Christian Democrats’ 53.3%. The latter came back from just 33% in the first round on votes borrowed from those determined to unite and stop the far-right.
“The same is happening all over Germany, it gave me hope,” Christina added. Scenes like these give us hope, too.
